Compasses, Chants and Campfires
by Red Lunacy
Summary: Leo is doing pretty well. The building of the Argos II is going great and he has siblings and friends. That is, until he has to go on a quest with the twelve-years-old son of Hades. Maybe he shouldn't have left his bed...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- **October is really really far away (and thank God Amazon and pre – order exists!), so I decided to pass the time with a small multi-chapter story that shouldn't become an AU after Son of Neptune's release.

Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer – I don't own anything, except an OC or two.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Leo<strong>

The first Saturday of February, Leo woke up with the sudden feeling of imminent danger.

Maybe not in the End of The World sense, but in the Bad Things Are About to Happen. This totally sucked, as there was supposed to be a party at the end of the day. Well, maybe not exactly a party, but close.

That very same day would mean Cabin 9 – and pretty much everybody at camp - had been working on the Argos II, future most baddass ship _ever_, for a month.

Chiron had said at the last senior counselor's meeting that such event deserved some kind of acknowledgement, after the usual progress report. Travis and Connor had waited a whole total of five seconds after the centaur had left to say one month of full work meant it was time for a party, Cabin 11 style. Leo kind of liked the second option.

Which meant the possibility of Bad Things would totally suck tonight, especially since there had been a promise of smuggled junk food, but maybe the feeling would go away. It wasn't like his hunches were always right.

_Only when it's about danger,_ part of him suggested.

Not long after becoming counselor, Leo had realized he had an uncanny sense of danger when working in the forges. Jake had explained to him that that was sort of a regular power for Hephaestus' kids, necessary when you spend most of your time working with totally cool but dangerous machinery. Leo could remember being told that and remember his siblings' state and the so called curse when he had first gotten to camp.

So maybe the bad feeling would go away eventually. Maybe he was waking particularly paranoid – not a first – and blaming it on his own supposed spider – sense.

_Maybe._

As Leo led his cabin through the usual morning activities, Bad Feeling was replaced with Numbing Boredom. What use could they possibly have for Latin classes when A) they had Jason, and B) they were supposed to be building a spankin' hot war machine?

Apparently, it would help with the Roman – Greek community relations, but to Leo it was torture of the worst kind.

After that, they had archery – which he sucked at, thank you very much – and a few rounds of fighting against Cabin 4. Kate Gardner, who was leading the class, kept trying to encourage him, saying he was just starting his training, but when a ten years old kid wins you, it means you are really bad.

All in all his day had gone so horribly wrong, that by the meeting's time, Leo was fantasizing of going to bed early, party or not. His plan was simple. Going in, receiving the '_Congratulations on such a fantastic job, good luck in the next four to five months, blah, blah, blah'_, and running for his cabin.

So he had being reasonably surprised when he went into the council - rec room and found everyone in funeral mood. He was going to say that but decided not to at last moment. He'd learned quickly enough that at camp you never knew.

At that moment, Piper saw him. 'Hey Leo. You are the last one.'

'What's going on guys? I thought we were going to have a par… err, celebration for the one month thing.' Not that anyone looked in party mood.

'Well, we started talking about that but somehow we ended up talking about the prophecy' Annabeth explained while Leo took a seat. As she said it, she rearranged herself in her chair, which Leo knew meant a long explanation was on its way.

Leo was still shocked to think this girl, their unofficial leader, was the same scary but brokenhearted girl Jason, Piper and himself had met in December. Since knowing were her boyfriend was, Annabeth had plunged herself head first into designing the Argos II. Nowadays she was a strong leader with an unbreakable will.

The scary part was that everyone kept saying she wasn't still a hundred percent her usual self.

'We were just getting to the part of the Doors of Death.' Apparently, Annabeth had never stopped talking while Leo had zoned out. Thank you ADHD.

'Right. Doors of Death. I don't suppose we know were those might be, right?'

'According to myths, they were supposed to be in the west, right?' Piper asked.

Rachel sat forward. Though she was supposed to be at some rich girls' school, she'd made arrangements to be there for the weekend. 'Actually, we know were the two current entrances are. The main one is in Los Angeles, and the one Orpheus used is in New York.'

'Ookaay.' Leo had heard so many weird thing already, that the entrance to Greek hell being in L.A. was kind of expected. 'Then why are we even discussing that part of the prophecy?'

'Because yesterday night I had a dream of my dad.' The speaker was a kid, no couldn't be over twelve, sitting next to Annabeth.

Leo's first impression was, _Whoa, hello prince of darkness._

Emanating such aura was kind of impressive, since the kid was wearing the camp's orange shirt over a long sleeved black t-shirt with what seamed from Leo's seat a black pant. He had olive skin that looked just a little too pale and black eyes that clearly screamed Danger!

_Cute kid_.

While Leo hadn't had that much time to socialize with anyone other than his siblings, what with building a flying – and awesome – ship and all, he was sure he'd never seen the kid before. He wasn't exactly inconspicuous. By the looks of Jason and Piper, neither had them.

Apparently Annabeth realized it too and decided to make the introductions. 'Guys, this is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. Nico, these are Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, and Jason Grace, son of Jupiter.'

If the kid was surprised, he didn't show, and he didn't have time, with Clarisse interrupting.

'So, Cadaver Breath, what does your dad say?'

If he was insulted with the nickname, he didn't show it either. 'Besides the usual 'Do not disappoint me, blah, blah, blah', he said that just as there's an actual Mount Olympus, there is a real place for the Doors of Death.'

'Yeah, I had figured as much.' Annabeth said, with that thoughtful expression Leo was starting to relate with 'make mast a little higher', 'put more celestial bronze here' and 'remake this part of the ship from scratch.'

'I don't suppose he said where it was, right?' she asked, though it sounded more like statement.

'Nope. He did say that it could be tracked' the kid, Nico, answered, which gave Leo an idea.

'Then we just have to make a machine capable of somehow tracking those Doors, right?' he said. Everyone looked at him funny, like he'd grown a head or something, but he had the feeling he was on the right track, so he went on. 'If he had some sort of substance or something that could point to it, then it could be done.'

'You mean like a compass?' Jason said, looking at him like he was considering whether he was serious or not. Leo knew how he sounded – well, more like he had an idea – but saying it aloud gave him an even greater feeling he was on to something.

Then Nico sort of jumped in his chair and apparently that was weirder because everyone's attention went to him.

'Oh! My dad also said that things that belonged to the Underworld would naturally be attracted to it. That could mean stygian iron, right Annabeth?'

'Maybe, but unless you feel like giving away your sword, we don't have any to use and we can't exactly trust in Mrs. O'Leary's instincts to find the Doors.'

Leo had heard from Nyssa about stygian iron. Like Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold, it was a metal that could be used for making demigod weapons, the difference being it could only be found in the Underworld. In other words, finding any amount of it was so crazy difficult, you couldn't find it even in Cabin Nine. He told them so.

At this, Chiron spoke up, except to Leo it looked like he really wished he didn't have to. 'Actually, there is a place where you are sure to find at least a small quantity of it, or any other type of metal.'

Apparently this was news to everyone, because they started talking at the same time making questions like: where? How come you never mentioned it before? Can we take as much as we want?

It wasn't until everyone settled that the old centaur went on. 'I haven't told you before because frankly, the risks aren't worth the prize. The only place I could think of is the Junkyard of the Gods.'

With such a name, Leo's first impulse was to laugh, but the way Nico grabbed the table stopped him. Clearly there was something else going on.

'Nico' the centaur went on, 'though you were visited in a dream by your father when the gods have been forbidden to do so, it doesn't necessarily mean you must be on this quest. After all, it might not even help with the Great Prophecy.'

_When you put it like that_, Leo thought. _Hey, go risk your life, for possibly nothing!_

The kid clearly thought differently, because he got up and said, 'I'll do it. Do I get a prophecy?'

'Yes.' To everyone's surprise, Rachel was already in font of Nico.

Like the first time he'd seen her in 'Oracle mode', Rachel closed her eyes and swooned. Annabeth and Chiron eased her into a chair – apparently the three-legged stool wasn't necessary for her voodoo thingy – and the mist show began.

She opened her eyes and began speaking in a creepy snake-like voice:

'_Ghost King and forge shall combine their powers,_

_And save the dog in the land of flowers,_

_To prevail against the Vain One in the west,_

_A third companion shall join during the quest,_

_The road is revealed by the Hunter's light,_

_Victory only by defeating the Queen's might.'_

At the end she collapsed, but Chiron caught her before she hit the floor. Apparently this wasn´t a prophecy as important as the one to rescue Hera (were there levels, like from one to suicidal?), because Rachel recovered quicker than Leo remembered from the last time.

Chiron spoke only after that. 'Well, there we have it. While it's unusual, it seems you must leave camp with only one companion, Nico.' The last part was directed at the Prince of Darkness, as Leo was starting to call Nico in his head, who still looked unfazed by everything.

_Too brave or too stupid? _

'Yeah, and we know where you have to start.' Kate said. At this almost everyone in the room looked at her. Obviously Leo wasn't the only one in the dark here.

She went on. 'Florida. When the Spanish first came, they name it 'La Florida' or in English 'Flowery Land'. Right, Chiron?'

'Indeed. First of all, you must choose your companion.'

That's when everyone looked at Leo, but it took him a few seconds to realize why.

'Right! Forge and Ghost King. I'm taking a wild guess here and say Nico is the king, which means you need someone from my cabin.'

'But it doesn't mean it has to be him, right?' Jason said at Chiron, clearly concerned.

'Not necessarily' answered the old centaur. 'It could be anyone from Cabin Nine, though they would require Leo's consent. Besides, Leo and Annabeth are leading the camp efforts regarding the Argo II. '

'Which means as long as Annabeth is here, there should be no problems, right?' Leo was grateful for the concern and praise on his work, but he knew it was about him. He had woken up with the Bad Things Are About to Happen feeling.

'In that case, if Nico agrees then he and Leo shall go on this quest.' At the small confirmation from Nico, Chiron went on. 'As for the rest, you all know how delving too much in a prophecy might be counterproductive. Right now, Grover is in Orlando, so you could try to meet with him, see if he knows something that could help you.'

That´s when it really hit Leo.

'Wait! You mean we are going on a quest to make what could be a magic compass, and we'll start by going to Orlando, also known as the place where Disney is!'

Obviously no one else had noticed, because the fell silent for about half a minute – big achievement for so many kids with ADHD – until Travis spoke.

'Your quest sounds like a Disney movie. Err, I don't suppose you have a problem with that, right?'

Going on a quest with a twelve-years-old he knew nothing about looking for metal of the Underworld and a third unknown member for their little party?

'Nope. Va a ser fantástico.'

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><p><strong>AN- **I wasn't going to post this until I had finished chapter 2, but today we won the Copa América, so this is my own little way of celebrating (sort of).

That said, reviews are useful and welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- **First of all, thank you to everyone who read this. I was sure I'd be lucky if I got as many as 5 hits, so 100 was a little more than I expected. Feel free to continue reading, of course!

That said, special thanks to **DragonsAreAwesome** , **Hedley is Amazing** and **Dobby's Reincarnation**. I was originally so nervous about posting this story, that having people who actually wanted to go on reading it made a lot of difference.

After all that rambling, here's chapter 2! Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer – I don't own anything, except an OC or two.

Chapter 2: Leo

20 hours. The bus trip between Ney York and Orlando would take _20 friggin' hours._

Leo couldn't sit still for 20 minutes and he had to do it for 20 hours! No way José.

Now, the quest hadn't started all that bad. Yes, he'd had to wake up early, but Jason, Piper and all his siblings had done the same to see him off. And yes, he was going on a dangerous mission with a kid he didn't even know, but he'd seen Annabeth giving him a quick friendly hug, so he couldn't be all that bad.

Things got from More or Less Okay to Really Not Cool after that. Chiron told them that Argo – Leo had heard from the Stoll brothers that seeing his eyes roll was awesome - would take them to the station.

Being distracted – because he definitely wasn't sleeping on his feet like Piper had said - he never realized Chiron had said station. Not terminal, as in airport or even better _airplane_. Apparently Zeus was just like Hephaestus had described him, because according to Nico, him plus airplanes would equal roasted demigod, lightning style. Bus it would be.

Still, as much as it would suck, it wasn't like the end of the world or something. There were two of them, and they didn't know anything of each other so, being the social butterfly that he was (it sounded way better than class clown, anyway), Leo decided to start the conversation once on the bus. Bad choice.

He wasn't sure about what he said or hadn't, but after asking about Nico's family –the mortal one – the kid had given him what could only be described as a 'be ashamed of yourself, shrink down in your seat and die' look, and looked to the other side.

_Shot down by a kid in less than ten minutes. New record, Valdez._

Five hours later and they hadn't so much as spoken a word. During all that time, Leo had checked the others passengers (a habit that had saved him from being sent back to more than one foster home), learned everything he could from the bus (coolest power ever, in his opinion) and played solitaire with a deck he'd gotten from his magic tool belt. He'd gotten bored of all that after the first hour and a half.

Nico, on the other hand, had been sleeping for the last hour, so Leo was sort of bored and out of options regarding entertainment. He was debating with himself about how stupid would be to wake Nico to try the original 'let's get to know each other in case we die together' idea, when the bus came to a sudden stop.

At first Leo didn't understand what had happened, they weren't at a stop –more like the middle of nowhere – and there was nothing wrong with the bus. Theirs, at least. From the window, Leo could see another bus stopped on the opposite side of the road, with smoke coming from under the hood.

Before Leo could marvel at how nice their driver was, he realized it probably had to do less with kindness and more with the passengers on the other bus being all women. Like, cheerleaders or supermodels, just really hot women who probably wouldn't even give him the time of day under regular circumstances.

_Just my type._

Any other day, Jason would shake his head in defeat, and Piper would drag him from his ear, but they weren't there and Nico was still sleeping, so no one stopped Leo when he decided to hop off the bus to offer assistance and try to get some phone numbers.

As he got closer, he could see something written down the side of the bus, but with his dyslexia it looked something like 'STEHOISROD OF EMSAIPOU'. Considering the occupants of the bus, some who were now getting out – each hotter than the previous one, - he could guess it was a sorority of some sort.

_Hopefully, most of them are single. It´s time for my luck to change!_

When Leo finally got to the front of the car, the girl who seemed to be in charged approached him. She was tall, with green eyes and blonde hair, and was wearing a red and yellow cheerleading outfit that went great with her tan. She seemed to give him an overall look and smiled at him.

'Hi, I´m Stacy' she said, 'I´m afraid our bus broke and if we don't leave now, we'll be too late for our appointment.'

Leo was nothing if talkative when in front of gorgeous women, but he needed a few seconds to say anything more than 'Uuuh?' There was something in the way she smiled and moved her hair that kept him from thinking straight. That should have being his first clue, but as Piper always said, he was a sucker for pretty faces.

It took him longer than expected, but Leo finally said something half coherent. 'Right. I'm, err, Leo and I can fix it. The bus, I mean. Right.' Under other circumstances he would have berated himself for blowing his chance, but Stacy didn't seem to mind.

'Really? That'd be wonderful! Maybe you could hang out with us afterwards? I'm sure we'll find something to do together' she said, and though normally he would have been a little suspicious, his mind was so focused on her he didn't even noticed.

As he got to work on the bus, though, his mind got clearer. Maybe it was that the job was easy – specially compared to building ships – but that left part of his mind free to think of things like where was the driver? Why had none of the passengers from his bus gotten out? How come Stacy didn't ask where he got his tools from? Why were the rest of the cheerleaders/models back in the bus looking like they were about to get a pizza?

As he was halfway through his job, he decided to ask Stacy the most important one.

'Why does it feel like there's a lot more metal around here than what I can see?'

He didn't think it was a bad thing to ask, dazzled as he was, but Stacy had clearly been offended, because for a second her beautiful face turned into something from out of a real bad zombie – ghost movie.

'You're imagining it. Go back to fixing our bus'.

'Imagining it, right.' A voice in the back of his mind was frantically telling Leo he was in danger and that he sounded like a total zombie, but he really couldn't bring himself to disobey Stacy.

So he placed his hands on the bus and turned his head to tell Stacy it was almost done, except when he did, Stacy wasn't there. Instead, it was more like Stacy the zombie vampire, with one donkey-like leg and the other one made of metal. And hair on fire.

_Oooh. So all that metal was her leg. And probably everyone else in the bus is the same._

Maybe he had said it out loud, because Stacy looked livid for a second and yelled, 'Come out, girls! The demigod knows! And stop staring at the legs! It's rude.'

Leo was about to say something like 'Are you the ghost of a bloodthirsty she satyr?', when he realized he was surrounded by five… whatever they were.

_Great. The only female attention I get is from monsters_.

'I don't know how is it that now you are out of my spell, little demigod, but I don't care. Normally, I would've considered letting you go for fixing our bus, but you figured out our identities. Besides, the girls were asking for a snack.' Stacy said, and as Leo took a step from the bus, her form flicked again.

Of course. Being in contact with a machine cleared his mind, which allowed him to see he monsters for what they were.

'So' he said, taking a step closer to the bus, not that he had much space while being between it and a semicircle of monsters. 'What exactly are you?'

They all screeched like he had deeply insulted them – he probably somehow had, but he was beyond caring- and looked even more furious than before.

'Excuse me? We are empousai.' Stacy said it like that should explain everything, but Leo was behind in the whole learning about monsters class. When Annabeth had said it could one day mean the difference between life and death, he'd thought she was exaggerating but now, he wasn't so sure.

_If I survive this, I'm asking her for extra classes._

If he survived. As he was thinking that, he made a quick scan of the place. The rest of the empousai, though mostly looked like part of Stacy's evil background, were getting closer by the second looking really hungry. He only had a hammer he'd summoned from the tool belt to defend himself and had his back against a bus full of other, probably equally hungry empousai. Also, his bus was gone.

Stacy clearly understood what he was doing because she threw her head back and cackled. Like one of those Disney's villains.

'Don't bother little demigod. As soon as we realized what you were, we convinced the driver to take off. We are practically in the middle of nowhere, so no one we'll here you scream.' She went on looking a little too pleased with herself, to Leo's taste. 'You are not exactly as handsome as our usual prey, but your demigod blood should compensate for it. You might as well give up.'

'Excuse me!' he yelled. Give up? Did she expect him to also jump into a stew or something?

_And worst of all, not handsome?_

Before, he might have been scared, but now he was mostly pissed off, which was good, because he'd need as much rage as possible for what he had in mind. He'd have to time it right, and while the adrenaline was probably helping, Leo knew he'd only have one chance.

Leo shifted into a sort of fighting stance – was there a way to properly start a fight with a hammer? – and just as the empousai (the background ones, not Stacy) made a grab for him, he summoned all his will and shot an arch of fire towards them.

Because the intensity of the fire wasn't even along the arch – not bad for a first time, anyway, – only two emposa turned to sand, leaving a gap in their semicircle. That was what Leo had hoped for. Before the other could put the fire out and regroup, he jumped towards the road and started running.

It wasn't a solution to the problem, but he knew the next stop wasn't that far away. That meant there had to be some sort of town and he was sure the empousai wouldn't dare eat him in a street full of mortals. He hadn't actually finished fixing the bus, so if they wanted to catch his handsome self, they'd have to run, which couldn't be easy what with the whole mismatched legs. Hopefully.

_I'm so done for._

He hadn't been running for more than five minutes when the clack-clack-clack sound the empousai did when running got really close. Leo tried to turn around while running, only to see a talon coming to his face. He narrowly managed to avoid it, but he fell to the ground.

'It was a nice try with the fire, son of Hephaestus, but that's it.' Stacy, who turned out to be the one to try to slash his face, was now on top of him. At any other time, he would have loved being this close with a girl, but the whole 'eating you' part sort of made her less attractive.

_How come I'm only stalked by psycho crazy chicks? Jason doesn't have this sort of trouble._

Her minions were still far behind (maybe speed came with age?), but she had Leo grabbed by his wrists and he needed a few minutes before using fire again. The others would be there sooner.

'Say goodbye, demigod.' Stacy made a go at his neck, but before Leo could feel anything, she made a sort of strangled noise and turned into dust.

Where she had been, now there was a black sword brandished by Nico.

_So now I also own my life to a kid. I keep getting better and better, don't I?_

Apparently Nico wasn't aware of his internal rambling, because he quickly put him on his feet –the ankle didn't feel broken – and told him to run.

'Okay but, where do you even come from! I thought you left with the bus?'

'More like the bus left without you. When I woke up, we were on the next stop. By the way, if the plan was to run over there, you did a lousy job; it's about two miles from here.' Nico answered, looking vaguely disapproving at Leo.

It was eerily similar to the way Annabeth did whenever he tried to use his first idea for something in the Argos II and not the fifth one that'd come after putting much thought into it. They were definitely friends, then.

'Wait. You mean you ran two miles in the minutes between your reaching the next stop and now?'

Nico looked at him like he'd grown a second head. 'Are you insane? That was like an hour ago. I didn't know what happened to you until someone mentioned how nice you were, helping the pretty girls with their bus. I imagined it had to be monsters, probably empousai.'

Leo was about to retort that it hadn't felt like an hour, but then it hit him that they were two half-bloods running from a really large group of monsters who now were also raging about the loss of their leader. Not the best situation to be discussing minor details.

Instead, he said, 'What now? They're getting closer. We won't make it to the stop.'

Nico made a face. 'Not the plan. We just have to run … a little more.'

'Eh? What's your plan, then?' Leo had the feeling something Not Nice was on its way. As he said it, Nico grabbed him from his wrist and took a left turn toward a giant ad. He wasn't sure what it was about, because they were going to the back side, where its shadow was.

'The plan is for you to trust me and find Grover.' Leo was about to interrupt him, but Nico shut him up and went on. 'Annabeth told me his hotel address before we left, so I'll try to get us as close as possible.'

At this point Leo was pretty bewildered. The empousai were getting too close to his comfort, but Nico kept going towards the ad. The kid looked pretty sure of what he was doing, so he didn't stop. Not that he had a chance with the monsters at his back and all. Still, he didn't like the way Nico spoke, like he wasn't going to be around or something.

'What do you mean, I have to find this Grover guy? What about you?'

Nico gave him a somewhat ironic smile, 'Don't worry, I'm not staying here or anything like that. I'll just be out of commission for a while.'

Before Leo could ask what he meant by that, they reached the ad. Instead of hitting it, though, they went past it. He was feeling as if he'd gotten inside a dark freezer –not the best for a hot guy like him – but he could tell the empousai hadn't followed. Almost instantly, they were on the floor. He was about to tell Nico how awesome that had been – whatever it was,- when he realized the kid was still on the ground and didn't look like he'd be getting up anytime soon.

_De mal a peor.(1)_

**A/N- **I hadn't written an action scene before, so I hope it was more or less decent, specially since I wrote it at 4 am (my muse seems to appear at the weirdest of times...).

The story will alternate between Leo and Nico's point of view, just like in the last book, but next chapter will probably still be from Leo's pov.

Just in case, 'From bad to worse.'

_That said, reviews are useful and welcome!_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N- **I´m SO sorry for taking so long since the last chapter, but I got caught in a couple of things and couldn't update sooner. Next chapter should be ready in a couple of days, though.

Also, to **Hedley is Amazing: **I'd forgotten about that, so thank you for pointing it, especially since it solves a problem I was having a couple of chapters from now.

And now, here's chapter 3! Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer – I don't own anything, except an OC or two.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Leo<p>

Okay, so maybe Nico needed to check his vocabulary, because as far as Leo was concerned, the thing in front of them wasn't a hotel. Unless, of course, 'dark-little-hole-in-the-middle-of-nowhere' was the regular way to describe a hotel. Because that's what the thing in front of them was.

_It looks so bad, I kind of wish we were back with the empousai._

Leo got himself from the floor and looked around. It was already midafternoon and there were no signs nearby as to their location, except for an ancient sign that said 'Grand Royal Hotel' that had to be some kind of joke.

The building in front of him seemed to be one of those cheap motels where people could rent by the month and live in. If such people were to live inside a horror movie. The really scary type.

After getting past that happy thought, he realized he couldn't see or hear Nico, so he turned around, only to see him face down on the floor. He ran to his side, turned him around and searched him for any kind of injuries. There were none, which was good, but he didn't seem to wake up, which was bad.

Having his only –for now, hopefully – quest companion die right after the start because of his mistake couldn't be such a great way of starting. Plus, it'd totally suck for the kid.

'Hey, kid, wake up! You can't die on me! I mean, you can, but the guys at camp will kill me! Specially Annabeth. Please say something. ANYTHING!' Leo said.

At this, Nico just gave a light snore. Not exactly the response he expected.

_So, he's not dead, just asleep which is good. But he can't tell me where we are, which is bad._

Leo was clearly distressed, so he didn't notice someone was next to him until a hand touched his shoulder. After jumping about a foot in the air and yelling, – in a very manly way, of course – he turned around.

A guy who couldn't be more than a couple of years older than Leo himself was standing before him. He had curly brown hair and eyes, and he was wearing a t-shirt with some sort of 'save the nature' stuff he didn't quite care of at the moment.

The guy was looking at him and Nico, like he wasn't sure of what had happened. A small part of his brain noticed that the guy wasn't exactly calling for an ambulance, but at the same moment the rest of him was going into panic, so he didn't paid attention to that part of his brain (he barely did, anyway).

'This isn't what it looks like! He's just asleep, I think, and I'm not robing him or –'

'I know. We should move him, though. He tends to be cranky after sleeping in a bad position.'

'Okay, we'll… wait, what! HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT!'

'My name's Grover Underwood. Annabeth called, said Nico and a new camper were on a quest and would probably come see me.'

The guy, Grover (the name sounded familiar), put an arm under Nico and started lifting him. Leo was about to grab him from the other side when he looked at Grover.

He had hooves. Shaggy legs. Horns, kind of small, but still, _horns_.

'You're a satyr!' Leo said. He was answered with an irritated bleat.

'You don't say! Of course I'm a satyr! Do I look like a naiad?'

'Whoa! Sarcastic much?'

At this, Grover looked a little embarrassed. 'Sorry. It's been a difficult week and I think we're finally seeing that Percy has rubbed off on me.'

'So that's why your name was familiar, you're friends with Percy Jackson. What do you mean about rubbing off? He's into sarcasm?'

_That would be awesome. Sarcasm I can deal with._

Secretly, Leo had been worried whether he'd manage to get along with the still missing camp leader. Leo had never been too good with authoritative figures – or authorities in general -, and from what little Jason could share from his camp, the way to be leader there was by showing strength and above all else, discipline. So totally un-Leo like.

Without meaning to, Grover put his fears to rest.

'Percy? He's like, king of snappy comments. That and answering back, be it to monsters or gods.' Before he could get into details, Grover opened a door and signaled Leo to maneuver Nico into the room.

If the outside looked bad, the interior was terrible. As in, if ten was bad, this would be a thousand. The walls looked like they had been originally white but now were grey, the table had a crack that traveled all over the surface, and the bed looked three seconds away from coming apart.

Nevertheless, they still eased Nico into it, properly introduced themselves and seated at the table. One of those awkward silences was starting to form, so Leo, who obviously hadn't learned from his last experience with Nico, decided to start a conversation.

'So, I take it you know Nico or is his 'walking-into-walls-and-fainting' a known routine back at camp?'

_Ouch. Cranky much? At least try to make a good first impression._

Grover didn't sound bothered, though. 'Actually, both. I first met him when he was ten. I was the one to detect him and his sister at his school. I've seen his powers plenty of -'

'Wait, back up. Nico has a _sister_? I don't remember another kid of Hades at camp.'

'She's dead now.' Obviously Grover had let slip that comment, because he looked kind of panicked for a second. 'Blaa-ha-ha! If you didn't know before, forget I said it!' he said.

_Oh. So that's why he gave me the silent treatment._

' Err, actually, I already asked about his family. He didn't look all that happy with my question.'

Grover looked at Leo as if he'd grown a second head.

'You asked Nico about his family? Didn't anyone at camp tell you the basics about him?'

'Not really, I mean, this was sort of sudden. I'm supposed to be building like, the coolest ship _ever_, not questing' Leo said. He was wondering if 'questing' was an actual word, when he realized Grover was giving him a long serious look.

'Okay. Then I'll have to tell you a few things about him. You know, so that you don't offend him to the point of him killing you.'

Leo almost laughed, but then saw Grover was still looking pretty serious.

_The sad part is the kid probably can do it with one hand tied to his back. Not that you've given him too many reasons, Valdez._

'Okay, so, what can you tell me?'

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><p><strong>AN- **And that was chapter 3! When I was making the final changes, I realized Grover isn't as err, loud as usual, but it will be explained soon.

Next: Nico's pov! Finally!

_That said, reviews are useful and welcome!_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N- **So, lo and behold! Chapter 4 is here less than 2 days after chapter 3. I wish I could tell you my muse has just struck and this will be my new writing speed but sadly, that's not it.

Today I start the new college semester, which means I could get beaten to a pulp by my muse, and I still won't get to write until the weekend. The good news is my weekend starts Thursday night, so the next chapter should be done in less than a week.

Also, this chapter is from Nico's pov, which means I can't use the books for reference. Hopefully he's not too ooc. Let me know!

On a happier note: We've reached ten reviews! Yay!

And last: **AM83220**: without giving spoilers, it's not Mrs, O' Leary. **Hedley is Amazing**: I did that before starting the story, though I chose to stick to wikipedia's version (er, versions) of myths because it had more or less what I needed. Still, thanks for the tip! Also, I'm still not sure about a Grover pov (if I tell you more, I'd be definetly giving you spoilers :)).

Disclaimer – I don't own anything, except an OC or two.

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><p>Chapter 4: Nico.<p>

Nico was having a bad day. No, scratch that. He was having a bad few months.

After his cabin was built, NIco's life at camp had been pretty good. Not only was he safe from monsters, but he also got to practice with his sword as much as he wanted.

Then, on the last day of the summer, Chiron had offered him the chance to go school. Apparently, he had talked with Percy and Annabeth, and if Nico chose to go to school, he might even get to spend the weekends at Percy's. Because Nico had spent almost two years without a proper education, he'd have until the winter session to catch up on his studies and give his final choice.

Back then, Nico would have bitten his own tong before admitting it, but he really liked the idea of spending some time with relatives who not only were normal –Percy barely fitted the definition, but still – but actually showed they cared whether a monster ate him or not. Besides, as far as Nico was concerned, Sally Jackson would always be the coolest mortal ever; learning to use a gun at her first attempt was proof enough.

Plus, it meant less time spent in the Underworld being forced to eat oatmeal. Honestly, whoever first talked about his stepmom's kidnap got it all wrong. The consequence about that whole episode wasn't Persephone being stuck in the Underworld, but the Underworld being invaded by vegetables and noisy goddesses of the green.

So, all in all, Nico's life after the Titan War had been pretty okay, until a certain whinny queen decided to exchange his cousins like they were collectible cards or something, and all plans of normalcy – not that demigods had much of that – vanished. School isn't exactly number one priority when the west civilization is in danger. Again.

And let's not forget about Thalia never even _mentioning_ she had a brother she thought dead, even though after last summer there had been a sort of unspoken agreement between Nico, Percy, Thalia and Annabeth to not keep secrets (mostly anyway), since a) being a child of the Big Three could suck so much only demigods in the same position could understand and b) the more Annabeth knew, the easier it'd be for her to save them from trouble.

Then, as if the situation hadn't been bad enough, it was somehow decided he had to go on a quest with a total stranger to the place where his own sister had died. Just great.

In other words, everything wrong in Nico's life since December was Hera's fault. Figures. Not that any of that mattered right then.

At the moment, Nico was feeling as if he were floating surrounded by darkness. He tried to remember what had happened, but he had problems focusing. His last memory was of saving Leo from the empousai and then shadow travelling (which Annabeth had forbidden him to) to Grover's. Or trying anyway. Had he succeeded?

He tried to focus again. He couldn't hear the screeches of tortured souls, so he wasn't in the Underworld, and the darkness wasn't as, err, dark as it should've been. He could also hear soft noises, as if someone was having a conversation, and then there was a bleat.

_Wait, a bleat? Grover!_

Maybe he had yelled that last part, because in a second Nico was sited in a bed –or something close to it, anyways – with a satyr and a demigod on each side of it.

'Nico, you're okay, thank the gods. I was sure you were just tired from shadow travelling, but you wouldn't wake up, so I got really worried' Grover said.

Apparently that wasn't what he'd told Leo, because the guy was giving him a disbelieving look.

'Excuse me? You told me there was nothing to worry about –'

'And there wasn't.'

'- that he was just tired –'

'Which he was.'

_This is getting annoying._

'- that he'd be perfectly fine in a few-'

The conversation kept going, as if they'd forgotten the person they were talking about was _right there_. And Nico hated being ignored.

'Excuse me' he suddenly said and the other two guys jumped surprised. _Ha! Serves them right._

'I'm not so tired anymore, but I'm hungry' he went on, 'Grover, do you have something to eat besides tin cans?'

Grover and Leo looked at each other guiltily, and Nico knew he wouldn't like the answer.

'Well' the satyr started, 'you were out for a couple of hours so Leo and I decided to use the time to, you know, trade information…'

'Information?'

'Yeah' this time it was Leo, 'like, I told Grover about how things are at camp and he told me stuff.'

'Stuff?' Maybe Nico was naturally suspicious of everything, but he was sure the guy was lying through his teeth, having already noticed Grover couldn't do that to save his life.

'You know, like how camp was before Jason and Percy Jackson were switched, that kind of stuff.'

_Right. If it were just that, you wouldn't be giving me the 'I pity you look'._

Nico was pretty sure he knew what they had been talking about, but if they weren't telling, then he wasn't asking. For now. Especially since he was really hungry which was how the conversation had started.

'So?'

'So?' Grover repeated. He probably had forgotten too.

'Food, Grover! Food!'

'Oh! As I was saying, Leo and I were talking, we started eating and … well, we ate everything.'

'What!' First they talk behind his back and then they eat _everything_? He was _so_ getting even, mortal flaw or not.

Maybe Grover was thinking the same thing, because for a second there, he looked panicked. 'Don't worry, there's a bending machine a few doors from here. I'll bring you something right now.'

As he left, Leo pulled his chair closer to the bed. He looked a little nervous, like he was trying to say something, but didn't know how.

_Can't be worse than last time. Wait, if Grover told him everything, maybe it could._

'Thanks for saving me from the cheerleaders from Hell.'

Oh. That was it.

'You're welcome. It wasn't that much, just a couple of empousai.' He'd tried to sound cool and mostly awesome, but he was still a little tired, so he sounded like he was half asleep. Not cool at all.

Still, it looked like Leo hadn't noticed. 'Are you kidding? That was awesome! Like the rebellion against the high school social ladder, or something!'

High school social ladder? Who thought those sort of things? Gods, it was like Percy Jackson, version two. So, just like with Percy, he had to make some sort of dry remark.

'Are you calling me a geek?'

Leo blushed all the way to the ears. 'Er, no, I mean not that being a geek is bad, but I hadn't meant you were and … you know.'

'Would you like a shovel?'

Leo just gave him a dry smile. 'Nah, I've already pretty much buried myself without one.'

Okay, maybe the guy wasn't quite like Percy – he always had a comeback ready and you could banter with him for hours – but he was … acceptable for the time being. While he was wondering about all that, Grover came back with all sorts of snacks.

'Here you go. I brought enough for now and breakfast.'

'Breakfast? You want us to stay? I mean, you're probably busy' Nico said. I was nice of Grover if he was offering, but the faster they were done with the quest, the better.

'Well, the thing is, Leo told me your prophecy, and I … well, I'm not sure but, I think I might know something about it.' Normally, Nico would have considered that good news, but Grover's expression told him right away that was not the case.

_Dangers in a quest? Why, what a surprise Nico! Yeah, right._

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><p><strong>AN- **So, too ooc? What do you think? Next: Our heroes find out all about Grover's own problems.

_Remember, reviews are useful and welcome!_


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